CIIS Public Programs

Empaths not only sense other people’s emotions, but also absorb them—sometimes to their disadvantage, often leading to overwhelming sensory overload and feelings of confusion or low self-esteem. Their willingness to help and please others might make them prey to opportunists or cause them to give away more energy than they can afford.

But international speaker, cancer survivor, and author Anita Moorjani argues that it’s possible to turn this onslaught of emotional burden into a powerful tool. In a time when traits like sensitivity, kindness, and compassion are sorely undervalued, Anita helps empaths navigate obstacles they may face and identify what makes them unique.

In this episode, May Elawar, CIIS Professor in Women’s Spirituality, talks with Anita about her latest book, Sensitive Is the New Strong, as well as her life and work teaching others to harness and foster their empathic gifts in today’s difficult, fear-based world.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 17, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

On each Tuesday of this month, in celebration of Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander voices, we are revisiting conversations from our archives that feature AAPI writers, thinkers, artists, and healers.

Today we are revisiting an episode from February 2020 in which Kazu Haga is joined by CIIS professor and restorative justice expert Sonya Shah for a conversation about his life, Kingian Nonviolence, and his book, Healing Resistance.

Because CIIS' history and identity is indebted to the wisdom traditions of Asian cultures, we are particularly called upon to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community. We share in the feelings of helplessness and grief of this moment, and there is nothing that we can say or do that will change the loss of life or the historical legacy of anti-Asian violence in the United States.

We hope that in hearing these episodes—again or for the first time—listeners are provided opportunities for connection and healing.

This episode contains explicit language. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

It is well known that mental healthcare and therapy are not systems that are readily accessible to everyone, especially those from marginalized communities. Created and maintained by white men, most traditional therapeutic practices do not address systematic oppression, ancestral trauma, LGTBQIA+ mental health and wellness, and the general mental, emotional, or physical plight of BIPOC and marginalized communities.

Psychologist and CIIS alumni Dr. Jennifer Mullan has spent much of her career addressing these inequities and providing spaces for healing through the use of decolonizing practices like centralizing historical and intergenerational trauma, which she identifies as ancestral trauma.

In this episode, educator and sexologist Bianca Laureano joins Dr. Mullan for a warm and powerful conversation exploring how we can tend to our emotional and mental health while also holding systemic oppression accountable.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 11, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

On each Tuesday of this month, in celebration of Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander voices, we are revisiting conversations from our archives that feature AAPI writers, thinkers, artists, and healers. Today we are revisiting CIIS Integrative Health Studies Professor Megan Lipsett’s conversation with mindfulness teacher Sister Dang Nghiem recorded in January 2021. Megan talks with Sister D about her work, which brings together her experience as a survivor, certified MD, and ordained Buddhist teacher to offer a body-based, practical approach to healing from life’s most difficult and painful experiences.

Because CIIS' history and identity is indebted to the wisdom traditions of Asian cultures, we are particularly called upon to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community. We share in the feelings of helplessness and grief of this moment, and there is nothing that we can say or do that will change the loss of life or the historical legacy of anti-Asian violence in the United States.

We hope that in hearing these episodes—again or for the first time—listeners are provided opportunities for connection and healing.

This episode includes a brief guided meditation led by Sister D. It also contains mentions of abuse, trauma, and violence. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

The field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has been growing rapidly in recent years with decriminalization efforts moving forward on local, state, and federal levels. Ketamine was first developed in the 1960s as a surgical anesthetic for humans. In recent years, it was discovered that ketamine also has rapid acting anti-depressant and anti-obsessional properties.

In this episode, clinician and CIIS professor Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold has a conversation with psychologist Raquel Bennett about her experience working as a ketamine specialist over the past 19 years and the exploding field of therapeutic ketamine.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 4, 2021. A transcript and additional reference materials mentioned in this episode are available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

On each Tuesday of this month, in celebration of Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander voices, we are revisiting conversations from our archives that feature AAPI writers, thinkers, artists, and healers. Today we are revisiting an episode recorded in October 2016 featuring author and hip hop journalist Jeff Chang in conversation with novelist and poet Adam Mansbach on the cultural history—and future—of race in America.

Because CIIS' history and identity is indebted to the wisdom traditions of Asian cultures, we are particularly called upon to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community. We share in the feelings of helplessness and grief of this moment, and there is nothing that we can say or do that will change the loss of life or the historical legacy of anti-Asian violence in the United States.

We hope that in hearing these episodes—again or for the first time—listeners are provided opportunities for connection and healing.

This episode contains explicit language. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

Joy and resilience: we need both to thrive. But even though resilience is rightly buzzing as a self-care goal, we live in a world that makes it attainable to some and inaccessible to others.

In her latest book, Joyous Resilience: A Path to Individual Healing and Collective Thriving in an Inequitable World, Pakistani American Clinical therapist Anjuli Sherin offers a culturally informed, body-centered model of healing accompanied by the compelling and diverse stories of Black, POC, LGBTQIA+, Immigrant, and other marginalized people, who found ways to thrive and embrace joy using this model to heal intergenerational and collective trauma.

In this episode, Monique LeSarre, executive director of Rafiki Coalition joins Anjuli for a moving and joyful conversation about her work as a therapist and the lessons she shares in Joyous Resilience.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 26, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

On each Tuesday of this month, in celebration of Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander voices, we are revisiting conversations from our archives that feature AAPI writers, thinkers, artists, and healers. Today we are revisiting a conversation from October 2020 featuring journalists Angela Chen and Sabrina Imbler speaking about Angela’s book Ace, what it means to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with sexual attraction, and what the ace perspective can teach all of us about desire and identity.

Because CIIS' history and identity is indebted to the wisdom traditions of Asian cultures, we are particularly called upon to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community. We share in the feelings of helplessness and grief of this moment, and there is nothing that we can say or do that will change the loss of life or the historical legacy of anti-Asian violence in the United States.

We hope that in hearing these episodes—again or for the first time—listeners are provided opportunities for connection and healing.

A transcript of this episode is available at ciispod.com.

There’s much more to astrology than weekly horoscopes, personality types, and predictions for the future. For astrologer and transformational coach Jennifer Racioppi, it is a guide to living in sync with the natural rhythms of the universe to achieve optimal health and success.

In this episode, Jennifer is joined in conversation with meditation guide and author Rebekah “Bex” Borucki. They discuss Jenifer's book, Cosmic Health, and explore how living in sync with the natural universe and understanding the connection between astrology, health, and evidence-based personal development practices, can support optimal health and personal transformation.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 24, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

In her work, racial justice educator Rachel Ricketts has developed heart-centered and mindfulness-based practices to dismantle white supremacy by addressing anti-racism from a comprehensive, intersectional, and spiritually aligned perspective.

In this episode, A-Ian Holt, director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford joins Rachel for a conversation about her latest book, Do Better, an actionable guidebook and a loving, assertive call to do the deep—and often uncomfortable—inner work that precipitates much-needed external and global change.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 18, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.